Explore and learn about Montana State Parks and our rich Native American history.
Montana State Parks, in partnership with the Office of Public Instruction, has created 21 model lesson plans for K-12 teachers that each feature a Montana State Park.
While the students’ knowledge and personal experience can be enhanced by an actual visit to a State Park, the lesson plans stand alone in the classroom. They are written for multiple grade levels, cover various content areas, and offer a rich resource that teachers can adapt to their classroom’s needs.
Title: Dinosaur Trails and Dinosaur Tales
Content Areas: Science; Social Studies; Literature; Art; IEFA
Grade Level: 2nd – 4th (could be simplified for K – 1st grades)
Title: Pictographs: Images of Art and History
Content Areas: Art; Reading; Social Studies; IEFA
Grade Level: 3rd – 4th
Title: Buffalo and the Blackfeet
Content Areas: Social Studies; Reading; IEFA
Grade Level: 3rd – 5th (Benchmarks listed here are 4th grade)
Title: Indigenous Uses of Fire in Western Montana
Content Areas: Social Studies; Science; Listening and Speaking; IEFA
Grade Level: 3rd – 5th (Benchmarks listed herein are for 4th grade)
Title: Tmsli, the Place of No Salmon
Content Areas: Social Studies; Reading; Literature; Art* (*See “Related Curriculum and Suggestions”); IEFA
Grade Level: 4th (suitable for 2nd – 4th)
Title: What's in a Name?
Content Areas: Social Studies; Geography; Montana History; IEFA
Grade Level: 4th – 5th
Title: Scarred Trees Tell the Story
Content Areas: Social Studies (History, Geography, Cultural Archaeology); Science; IEFA
Grade Level: 7th – 8th (suitable for 9th – 10th grades with corresponding benchmarks)
Title: Introduction to Ethnobotanical Uses of Native Plants Along the Missouri River
Content Areas: Social Studies, Science; Speaking and Listening; Reading; IEFA
Grade Level: 5th – 8th
Title: The Old North Trail – An Ancient Highway System
Content Areas: Social Studies; IEFA
Grade Level: 5th – 8th
Title: Understanding the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and the Battle of the Rosebud 1876
Content Areas: Social Studies (History); Reading; IEFA
Grade Level: 6th – 8th (adaptable for high school)
Title: In Her Own Lands: Sacagawea and the Lewis & Clark Expedition in Southwestern Montana
Content Areas: Social Studies; History; Geography; IEFA
Grade Level: 6th – 8th (adaptable for 9th – 12th)
Title: Cultural Vantage Points: Salish Perspectives on the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Content Areas: Social Studies; History; Geography; IEFA
Grade Level: 6th – 8th (adaptable for 9th – 12th)
Title: Contradictory Worldviews: Placing Montana’s Gold Rush into a Tribal Historical Perspective
Content Areas: Social Studies, Science; IEFA
Grade Level: 6th – 8th (suitable for 9th – 10th with corresponding high school benchmarks)
Title: Occupation, Use and Settlement of the Smith River and the Impacts on the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana
Content Areas: Social Studies (U.S. History; U>S> Government; Montana History; Blackfeet History); IEFA
Grade Level: 9th – 12th
Title: Buffalo Past and Present
Content Areas: Content Areas: Social Studies; Writing; IEFA
Grade Level: 9th – 12th
Title: Fort Owen: Cultural Crossroad of the Bitterroot Valley
Content Areas: Social Studies; Reading; Speaking and Listening; Writing; IEFA
Grade Level: 9th – 12th
Title: Council Grove: Site of the Hellgate Treaty of 1855
Content Areas: Social Studies (History; Geography; Government; Tribal History); IEFA
Grade Level: 9th – 12th
Title: A Cultural and Land-Use Study of the Prairie Ecosystem in Northeastern Montana
Content Areas: Science; Social Studies; Speaking and Listening; IEFA
Grade Level: 9th – 12th
Title: Plenty Coups, Leadership and the Vision Quest
Content Areas: Social Studies; IEFA
Grade Level: 9th – 12th
Title: Shared Destinies: Tribal Cultural Resources and Cultural Survival
Content Areas: Social Studies (History; Government; Economics;Montana’s Indian Tribes; Federal Indian Policy; Current Events); Science; IEFA
Grade Level: 11th – 12th